


no matter how far we have to go

by bluesandbirds



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Dream Smp, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationships, Pogtopia, Pre-Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), based on a song from tlt musical, l'manburg, wow surprise me and musicals again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27547438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesandbirds/pseuds/bluesandbirds
Summary: Tommy, Tubbo, Niki, Quackity, and Fundy.L'Manburg's last defenders.Tommy doesn't quite know what hell the 16th will unleash. All he knows is that they're facing it together.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Floris | Fundy, Alexis | Quackity & Floris | Fundy & Niki | Nihachu & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Alexis | Quackity & TommyInnit, Floris | Fundy & Niki | Nihachu, Floris | Fundy & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Comments: 27
Kudos: 161





	no matter how far we have to go

**Author's Note:**

> i was thinking about adding wisp and making this part of my business bay series, but decided against it on the off chance that tommy turns out the traitor and i didn't want it in the series since this has a high chance of not aging well after the traitor reveal  
> based on try, a cut song from the tlt musical

There are 1528 buttons in Pogtopia. 1528 buttons lining the walls, littered across the floors, and shattered in his inventory.

1528 chances to destroy everything they've worked for.

Taking them down is both precarious and tedious work, and they've got more pressing issues than the issues-if-pressed. Tommy can't worry about bombs that might not even be there. Not when Wilbur is more interested in TNT collection than gear collection. Not when Techno spends the nights bent over redstone blueprints instead of battle strategy.

He has a sneaking suspicion that the two men would prefer it if they failed.

But that's fine, if Wilbur and Technoblade aren't going to lead them to victory, then Tommy will have to do. He doesn't need them. He has Big Q, and Niki, and Fundy, and Tubbo.

Quackity has never fought a war before. That much is obvious from just looking at him. He's a politician. He makes deals and signs contracts. He speaks of policies not war.

Niki wasn't here for the revolution. The only conflicts she's participated in are those of the Pet War, and this time they don't have a Dream or a Blade to pull out of their pockets.

Fundy was a brilliant asset during the Revolutionary War. He used invisibility potions, confounding the other side and taking shots where they didn't expect it. However, spies alone don't win wars, soldiers do.

Tubbo's been there from the beginning, the two of them have done war with Dream and come out the other end, but the twisting in his gut tells him this is going to be a whole different type of battlefield.

_"Tubbo, we're not talking about discs anymore, my friend, we're talking about nations!"_

They're outgeared, outmanned, and most probably outnumbered if the way BadBoyHalo clings to the fringes of conflict is any indication.

Tommy, with the odds stacked upon his shoulders, thinks—if only to himself—that Wilbur and Techno might get exactly what they want.

**I already know it**

**I'll probably blow it**

It's late at night and he's sitting in the field outside Pogtopia.

There are times when the ravine is too small, too cold, too musty for him and he needs out, out, out.

He hears the shifting of dirt entrance of the hideout and sighs.

"I'm fine, Niki, you can go back to bed. I just need some time to think."

She does rounds at night, checking to make sure everyone is safe and tucked into a blissful sleep. More often than not, Tommy is out thinking and she comes up to sit with him until the quiet is just that.

But it isn't Niki's voice that answers him.

"Tommy?" Tubbo says.

He whips around. "Why are you awake?"

His friend shrugs, sitting down next to him. "Nightmare."

Tommy nods, understanding that all too well.

"What about you?"

Tommy's learned a lot from war. How to bandage wounds. How to command an army. How to be selfless. How much arrows hurt when they're pulled out.

He's learned that all of Wilbur's fanciful speeches promising justice and glory were just that. He learned when he started giving them too.

_"I had to motivate them, alright, if I'm not—if their leader isn't motivated, they're not motivated, alright. That's just how it works. You're only motivated if the person on top of you's motivated."_

He's learned that sometimes you have to swallow fear and worry, and walk ten paces with your back to an enemy for the sake of your friends.

But also that, given enough time, fear and worry will boil in your gut, turning you into something even worse.

_"TommyInnit, I am a slow-burning fuse. I am a long, slow-burning fuse, but I'm telling you now, over the next couple weeks, I—I am gonna be a different man than the one that JSchlatt crossed. I can feel it."_

So, he thinks _to hell with speeches_. 

"I'm scared," he confesses, "how are we supposed to do another war? And against Dream? We didn't even technically win the first one and now we're doing it again. Except now if we lose Wilbur's going to explode the whole country."

"I mean, if you think about it, we _did_ win—"

"We lost, Tubbo. Dream blew up the Embassy and L'Manburg, and then Eret tricked us all, and then I lost the duel."

"But we got L'Manburg," Tubbo says.

Tommy sighs. "We got L'Manburg."

A breeze ruffles through the grass and flowers.

Tommy shivers.

Tubbo inches closer.

"Half the people we should've been able to count on aren't even participating in the war. And of the people who are, are they really on our side? Or are they just not on Schlatt's? This is about L'Manburg. I can't be the only one who still remembers that."

"Of course you aren't. You've got me, and Big Q, and Niki, and Fundy. We're all here. We're all willing to fight." Tubbo places a hand on his shoulder. "Tommy, you don't have to worry about these things. Not with us. You're not Vice President—"

"Geez, thanks, Tubbo."

"—No, listen. You're not Vice President anymore. This isn't your responsibility. We're all equal here. We do this as a group."

_"Because it's me and you against the world, pal."_

Slowly, Tommy nods. "You're right, Tubbo, you're right. Thank you."

So, he brandishes his fear and worry, and he tells his right-hand man and he tells the moon and in the morning he'll tell his friends too because he'd rather they know than be surprised when it all comes bubbling out of him.

**But I'm going there anyway**

**1528 reasons I have to come along**

Quackity lies in bed wide awake.

Contrary to what everyone else on the server might think, Quackity is smart.

He can plan, he can strategize, he knows his stuff.

So, he knows that this is his fault.

He went off on George, but he's well aware of his own blame in this situation.

He was the one who made the deal with Schlatt. Schlatt has power because of Quackity's mistake.

That falls on his shoulders.

Soft footsteps sound outside his door.

He closes his eyes and feigns rest as Niki pokes her head in.

He stays awake for the rest of the night.

**Wash my hands of past mistakes**

Fundy looks around their army— _his friends,_ he corrects himself—where they stand uncertainly around Pogtopia.

Niki, Quackity, and Tubbo maintain a cheerful discussion about bees or cats or something. Tommy stares blankly off to the side.

Wilbur is in his room as he always is—something Fundy is glad for—and Technoblade is nowhere to be found.

He watches Big Q play hopscotch roulette to cross the path without pressing a button. He thinks of Dream in glinting netherite. He thinks about the whispers he's heard of a third party only interested in raising chaos.

They've been training with Tommy and Techno, but 10 days and passionate speeches are not enough to turn pariahs into soldiers.

Fundy squares his shoulders and resolves to spend more time in the training pit.

**Prove to them all that I belong**

Tubbo chats with Niki, keeping his words and attitude light and positive. Throughout the whole conversation, he is watching.

Fundy is tense and pensive from where he's leaned against a furnace.

Quackity idly participates in the conversation, hands shaking where he tries to hide them behind his back.

Niki seems to be moving on autopilot, every smile, laugh, and nod a reflex reaction on her part.

Tubbo is sure he isn't much better.

Finally, he glances over at Tommy. 

The exile and the festival and the incoming war all seem to be catching up to his friend. His eyes are glassy and vacant. His hair is more brown than blond. His face is sad.

Tubbo tries to remember Tommy's smile. The bright, genuine one that let him get away with the most ridiculous of scams. He tries to imagine it now, but it just seems like it'd be out of place set against gaunt skin and tired eyes.

He swears to himself that he'll see that smile again soon.

**He must be protected**

Niki is trying so hard. 

Every night, she does her rounds. She knows everyone in Pogtopia is just humoring her by letting her do them, but it's for her own peace of mind.

When she stops outside Wilbur's room, it's always light and manic mumblings spilling through the cracks.

Every night, she turns and goes back.

In the mornings, she eats breakfast with Tommy, Fundy, Quackity, and Tubbo, ignores the bags under all their eyes, and pretends she isn't sick of potatoes.

She works to keep up conversations, to lighten the mood, because someone has to.

When Tommy is lost in his own mind, she sits next to him and braids flowers into his hair.

When Tubbo is standing around, anxiously twisting his hands, she asks him about the newest things he's learned to see his eyes light up like they used to.

When Quackity is beating himself up, she tells dumb joke after joke until one breaks through his shell of self-hate.

When Fundy is working too hard, pushing himself too far, she is a gentle hand and a soft voice to reel him back.

Tommy will lead them into battle. 

Niki will keep the fire burning.

**I won't be rejected**

**I'll probably get the whole thing wrong**

Tommy snaps back to life in an abrupt second. The fog in his brain clears as he pulls himself out of deep thought.

He straightens and clears his throat, catching everyone's attention.

"There's no point beating around the bush," Tommy says, "There's a war going down. And we're going to be the front lines."

He scans over each of their faces, notes the grim determination, the plastered on optimism, the barely concealed fear.

"We don't know who's on their side. We don't even know who's on our side. Dream says that one of us is a traitor. That we can't trust anyone."

Several of them open their mouths to interject, but he raises a hand.

"But we have to put that aside. Dream wants us scared. He wants us disorganized and pointing fingers. I know half of us were enemies until a day ago, but if we're going to do this then we have to be able to trust each other."

Tommy blows out a breath.

" _Because we need friends right now more than anything."_

He laughs a little—not because anything's funny, quite the opposite, really—but because he doesn't know what else to do and TommyInnit's always defaulted on humor.

"I don't think any one of us is the traitor. We're the ones putting in the work, making the plans, preparing the gear, it doesn't make sense for one of us to be it. It's probably Technoblade, honestly, what a surprise, the guy whose catchphrase is _Blood for the Blood God_ is the traitor." Tommy coughs. "For real, though, it's scary. And I am scared. I'm sure you are too. But that doesn't mean we give up. That doesn't mean we've lost. We're going to win this. Because we have to and it's never mattered more. This is what it's all led up to." He takes a breath. "And we'll do it for L'Manburg."

They all exchange looks.

_"You're not just ruining your L'Manburg. You're ruining_ everyone's _L'Manburg."_

A chorus. "For L'Manburg."

_"You love it, don't you Tommy? You love L'Manburg?"_

_"Yes."_

**I may fail you**

**I may fail you**

**I may fail**

**But it doesn't mean that I won't try**

Training is an uphill battle. 

Quackity isn't a fighter.

He's not built for fire. He just burns.

_"I'm looking at you right now and you know what I see, Quackity? Even with netherite armor on because it makes you look big and strong, you know what I see?"_

_"You wouldn't have a modicum of power if it wasn't for me!"_

He hears Schlatt on the worst days.

When Technoblade—of course it had to be Technoblade, _do you feel_ _tired, Quackity?—_ is coming at him in the training pit and all Quackity can do is stare in doe-eyed fear, that's when his ex-boss' voice echoes in his ears.

_"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Rack that bow, rack that bow, we all know you're too much of a fucking pussy to do it!"_

Fundy nods at him from across the training pit. Tommy and Niki cheer in the background. 

It's almost enough to drown it all out.

Quackity summons that grit he's sure the war graciously gifted him and charges.

**I may fail you**

**If I fail to**

**Fight 'til we're all in the clear, look my fear in the eye**

Tubbo takes Niki into the Nether on a hunt for netherite.

They come back panting, smoke curling off their clothes, and stinking of sulfur, but Tubbo proudly bears a stack of ancient debris.

Niki's smile is the brightest she's had in days.

**The weight of the world's on my shoulders**

**Like Atlas it's crushing me down**

Fundy slashes at an invisible opponent. Sweat pours down his face, but he doesn't let up.

_Focus. Poor form. Be faster. You'd be dead._

He'd briefly sparred with Technoblade the day before. It ended with him splayed across cold cobble every time.

He grits his teeth.

_"I'm sorry, Fundy."_

_"A close game. Truly, a close game."_

No more losing. No more relying on deals and pity from their competitors. They win this one fair and square.

Fuck Schlatt with his smarmy smirks and meaningless titles.

Fuck Wilbur with his condescending words and unhinged plots.

A voice from behind him. "Fundy."

_Step to the side. You're too slow. Bad move. Bad. Bad. Bad. Dead._

"Fundy."

_You think Dream's going to go easy on you? You're at war. For your country. For your friends._

"Fundy!"

He whips around and Tommy is looking at him warily.

His chest heaves in and out.

"What?"

Tommy just stares for a second and Fundy wants to bare his teeth like the wild fox the younger boy regards him as.

He shakes it off. "Niki made cake. C'mon before Big Q eats it all."

"Not hungry."

Tommy frowns, but doesn't move closer. "Fundy, man, rest. You don't have anything to prove. Not with us."

He looks at Tommy properly for what might be the first time ever. He'd considered the boy a friend, but they were never close. Even in L'Manburg, there was a tension between them, something that stemmed from being the two people the president considered _family._

Fundy's relationship with Wilbur started as more of a joke than anything else. He'd been wandering around when L'Manburg was built, accidentally finding himself on the other side of concrete walls. Wilbur was the one who took a look at the lost teenager and decide _my son now_. It was a joke, but maybe Fundy bought into it a bit. He didn't have any family before this tall man with pretty words and warm smiles took him in. Can you blame him for falling for it? Maybe that's why watching Tommy move nations and tyrants all for Wilbur Soot's approval struck something odd inside him. Because maybe that was him too.

_"Fundy, I depise you. You were my son and you just betrayed me."_

_"You know who else is gonna be proud of me? Mr. Soot. Oh, Mr. Soot. You sly old man. Only able to solve conflict with explosives. I see where you're coming from, buddy, I see where you're coming from. Mr. Soot."_

Sometimes you have to wait until the smoke clears in order to see if a bridge can be repaired. (Or if it's even worth repairing.)

But right now, Tommy is here, and Niki is here, and they've got cake, so Fundy lets his shoulders drop and says, "Okay."

**We're not brave, we're not strong, we're not soldiers**

**My heart's just a drum, and damn does it pound**

**I'm not leaving your side 'til we find what matters**

Quackity slams into the wall of the pit, sword clattering across the ground.

He groans, sinking into the shadows in the corner. 

There's a light nudge on his foot.

Fundy smiles down at him.

"Not bad," he says, holding out a hand.

**I'm not leaving your side 'til we're back home**

Tommy tiptoes across the minefield that is Pogtopia.

The ravine isn't silent like one might expect it to be in the dead of the night. Instead, it's filled with the noise of flowing water and darkness dwelling critters.

He passes Fundy and Quackity's rooms, taking care to not make any noise to wake his friends.

When he gets to the stairs, there's someone there waiting for him.

Sleep-mussed brown hair. Big, tired eyes lacking in their usual light. A sad smile.

"Tubbo?" he whispers. "What are you—"

Suddenly, he's being yanked in for a hug.

He tenses before melting into the embrace. Unwilling tears prick at his eyes and he grips the back of Tubbo's shirt to ground himself.

_"From the beginning, it's been you and me... It's been a hella lotta fucking fun, Tommy."_

The two boys stands on the steps, just holding each other, and when Niki comes to get them, they all fall asleep in a pile.

**I'm not leaving your side 'til you're remembered**

"So, the war's in two days, how are we feeling, men?" Wilbur says with a dangerous grin.

It's dinner time and Wilbur's come out of his hole for once to eat with the rest of them.

It feels less like a meal and more like a game of roulette.

The five of them exchange looks.

Tommy is the one to speak as always. "Feeling good, big man, you know me. Gonna kick that green bastard's ass." It's almost like a soundboard, how he falls back on key phrases to lead him through the conversation.

Niki keeps her eyes fixed on the table and hands folded in her lap.

_"What happened? Why... I don't understand. I've—"_

_"He's became the villain, Niki."_

A warm hand squeezes her own.

She looks up.

Fundy has his eyes fixed forward, but his thumb runs soothingly over her knuckles. 

She can't see Fundy's other hand, but Tommy's right hand is also under the table and his body is slightly tilted towards Fundy.

With her right, she reaches over to Tubbo.

**I'm not leaving your side**

**I'm not leaving your side**

**I'm not leaving your side**

**I'm not leaving your side**

Tommy goes silent the second Wilbur disappears back into his room. His thousand block stare is back.

Tubbo and Niki exchange worried looks.

Apparently, Tommy notices because he starts talking without prompting.

"I've hoped this entire time, that when we get L'Manburg back, things will go back to the way they were." He glances up and his eyes are full of tears kept in only by sheer force of will. "But maybe—but what if he's _gone?_ "

Tubbo's had the same thoughts before. And looking at Niki and Fundy's faces, he can tell they have too.

"I trusted them. I loved them. For the longest time I had nothing, but then they were there and now—"

Big Q moves before anyone else. He puts a hand on his shoulder effectively cutting his rambling short.

Tommy stares back with watery blue eyes.

Quackity says solemnly, " _We're your family now_."

Tommy laughs wetly and lets the older teen pull him in for a hug.

Tubbo makes eye contact with Fundy and Niki, and then they're all moving in.

**I can't fail you**

**I won't fail to**

**Fight 'til we're all in the clear, look my fear in the eye**

On the morning of the war, they wake to excited cries from Wilbur.

The air is electric. Everyone's shoulders are pulled tight with tension.

Technoblade walks purposefully through the ravine. They give him a wide berth.

Potions are pulled out of chests. Netherite is equipped.

Tommy regards the creeper head in his inventory with mild regret. He shakes his head and leaves it in his enderchest.

Niki and Tubbo wait by the entrance. Fundy and Quackity trail behind, staying between him and Techno and Wilbur.

Tommy takes a breath, fingers dancing on the handle of his sword.

This is it.

For L'Manburg.

For Tubbo. For Niki. For Fundy. For Quackity.

**I'll try**

**Author's Note:**

> me with my tlt bullshit. tommy, niki, and tubbo as percy, annabeth, and grover. tommy good kid. wilbur or fundy or whoever the traitor is with luke's verse from last day of summer. pick a side with techno and the badlands people/other neutral people on the server. my brain is sploding. if only i could animate.
> 
> all that aside, mcc was poggers, and even though business bay reunion will always be my dream mcc team, my new dream mcc team is tommy, dream, wisp, and pokimane/nihachu.
> 
> as always if you wanna drop bits/lines you liked or pogchamps in the comments, it's always appreciated!


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